“Tell me what you’ve got,” Farnsworth said.

Gonzo filled him on what they’d learned from Hoda as well as the fact that Billy Springer’s name had come up repeatedly during the investigation.

“We may have a bit of a problem,” Farnsworth said tentatively.

“What kind of problem?” Sam asked.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Vice has had eyes on him for months now. We’ve got undercover officers positioned near him, and they’re close to an arrest. Apparently, the stash Hugo stole from his brother’s apartment was going to seal the deal. They were waiting for him to come home to arrest him, but Hugo got there first and carted off the goods.”

“And they just let him?” Sam asked, infuriated and incredulous.

“You’ve been undercover, Lieutenant. You know how you have to sometimes look the other way to maintain cover and keep the greater prize in mind.”

“Why didn’t you tell me at the beginning of all this that another of Springer’s kids was under investigation by our department?”

“I couldn’t risk compromising that investigation.”

“It was relevant. You should’ve told me.”

“I did what I thought was right.”

Sam’s frustration mounted as she propped her hands on her hips. “Did they look the other way while their subject committed murder?”

“Of course they didn’t,” Farnsworth snapped. “They didn’t think anything of a routine stop by his parents’ house, and were unable to break their cover until about twenty minutes ago to report in that he was there the night of the murders.”

“So let’s go arrest him,” Sam said.

“Not so fast. They’re this close to having him nailed on the drug charges. They want tonight to get it done, and then he’s all ours in the morning.”

“Since when do drug charges trump murder?”

“Since we’ve spent six months and significant department resources on this operation that’s not only targeting him, but two other major dealers in the city. Our people are on him. He’s not going to kill anyone else overnight with them watching him—”

“He managed to kill nine teens while our people were watching him,” Sam reminded the chief.

“He told them he needed to run into his parents’ house to talk to Hugo. He told them to wait outside for him, and he’d be right back. They didn’t know yet that Hugo had made off with Billy’s stash, so they had no reason to believe he was going to go ballistic with a knife. In six months undercover with him, they’ve never seen anything that indicated he had that in him. They’re as surprised as anyone.”

“How’s that going to look for us when it gets out that we had undercover people on him when he committed mass murder?”

“I’m working with Public Affairs now to manage the spin on that.”